Youth Engagement
School Food Safety Challenge
Our School Garden Food Safety Challenge is focused on engaging students in learning more about food safety practices by actually implementing them in their school gardens, while documenting their food safety activities in google sheets workbooks.
At the end of each challenge year (2023, 2024, 2025) students will report on the success of their gardens and food safety records will be evaluated based on completeness of data, consistency, and participation.
Monetary prizes are awarded to participating campuses to purchase supplies and tools for their gardens!
Here are some pictures from one of the schools in our challenge, Waipahu Intermediate!
In July 2024, North Shore EVP organized a module for the Hawaii AgDiscovery 2024 program. Thirteen Hawaii AgDiscovery students were hosted at Diamond Head Market and Grill, a new member of our cohort. The students toured the farm, learning about its history from the farm manager and owner, Kelvin Ro, an award-winning chef. Kelvin and his farm manager explained the importance of food safety on the farm, its history, and the farm-to-restaurant process.
Our North Shore EVP Food Safety Specialist discussed USDA auditing processes and our role in supporting farmers. We invited Dr. Anya from the USDA FSIS to share her experiences inspecting farms and working with animals. Additionally, two employees from the Hawaii Foodservice Alliance spoke about their roles in the largest local supplier to Hawaii’s grocery stores.
To conclude the visit, the students participated in a lei-making activity with Dillan, the farm manager. Overall, the module was a resounding success, with students rating all activities very highly. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with AgDiscovery in the coming years!
